Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate RealityDr. Tillich shows here that in spite of the contrast between philosophical and biblical language, it is neither necessary nor possible to separate them from each other. On the contrary, all the symbols used in biblical religion drive inescapably toward the philosophical quest for being. An important statement of a great theologian's position, this book presents an eloquent plea for the essential function of philosophy in religious thought.
This small work of Tillich's is one of his later publications; deriving from a lecture series in the 1950s, it shows in very short order the combination of Tillich's philosophical and psychological ideas coupled with his view on the authority of biblical scripture in a Christian context.
Tillich states that if humans enter the levels of personal existence which have been rediscovered by depth psychology, there is a collective unconscious in which we participate. This draws together all of our ancestors. Remember here that Tillich speaks in other contexts of the Ground of Being, so ideas such as this one make a consistent sense.
Tillich continues to be criticised for the philosophical language he uses, how radical a departure it seems to a more scripturally-based faith (students in my classes perennially complain of this). However, Tillich takes on the challenge here to look at this contrast in language, arguing that in fact it is impossible to separate out the language and meaning of philosophy from the imagery contained in the biblical texts.
Tillich's overarching idea through his entire body of work is to reconstitute the importance of theology and faith into a culture, academic and secular, who have been drawn away by seemingly more objective, rational enterprises such as science. The Enlightenment project of rationalism over all led to the questioning of orthodoxy -- Tillich maintains the questioning, but draws back in the ideas of God and biblical witness to religion in the terms of the modern academy. Nowhere is that project more clear than in this text.
Tillich means for the connection between biblical religion and philosophy to connect at a personal level. He states that from pimitive religion to the present time, religions have had a personalistic level at the deepest heart of the experience. 'Whenever the holy is experienced, the person-to-person character of this experience is obvious.' However, this changes when considering the Ground of Being, and Being Itself. As Tillich states, when we talk, it is to somebody, but we participate in something. This distinction becomes key to Tillich's overall analysis.
In the last chapters, Tillich examines different ideas of ontology versus the subjective and objective sides of biblical religion. Tillich's final paragraph encapsulates a classic sense of Tillichian analysis -- faith comprises both itself and its negation. Tillich clearly states that there is no particular philosophical framework necessary for salvation -- neither Plato nor Aristotle, neither Kant nor Hegel, and so forth -- but that there is an ontological question implied. The God of the philosophers is the same as the God of the bible (Tillich proclaims, contradicting Pascal).
Many Christians are still unconvinced of the value or necessity of philosophy in religious thinking; indeed, many are positively suspicious. Tillich's work helps to explain the value of connecting the two, even if one does not draw the same conclusions. This is a very short text (a mere 85 pages) that can be read most likely in a single sitting, and represents a good introduction or a good refresher to some key Tillichian ideas. --Reviewer: FrKurt Messick from Bloomington, IN USA
